Metro News & Reviews

Poll suggests riders are open to different fare structure

A couple of weeks ago we asked Source readers if they had any interest in a different fare structure for Metro. As I wrote at the time, there is no proposal at this time to change Metro’s fare structure, but given concerns and/or questions over the July 1 fare increase, I thought it was an appropriate time to gauge where Source readers were on the issue.

As the above results show, none of the four scenarios I put together earned the support of a majority of the 555 votes cast in the poll. But 71% of those who did vote seemed open to the idea of either a higher base fare or some type of higher fee in order for the right to transfer bus and/or rail lines. As many of you know, Metro currently charges riders per line they take, no matter how far the trip is on the line (daily, weekly and monthly passholders, of course, can transfer unlimited times).

One other note: As we posted the other day, the Board of Directors of Metro will consider a motion by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that seeks to expand the use of EZ passes. An amendment to that motion by Supervisor Mike Antonovich asks the Metro staff to consider time and distance based fares, which are commonly used by transit agencies AND seem like something easier to accomplish with TAP cards, given their ability to store information.

I’ll forward the poll results to the offices of Villaraigosa and Antonovich, given their interest in the issue.